


Separation

by MadamRed, venom_for_free



Series: Pliroy Week 2021 [4]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Divorce, Domestic, Drama & Romance, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, New love, One Shot, Past Relationship(s), Post-Canon, Relationship(s), Romance, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 12:19:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30122646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadamRed/pseuds/MadamRed, https://archiveofourown.org/users/venom_for_free/pseuds/venom_for_free
Summary: "It's real? It really happened?"Yuri looks away, not yet ready to stand up to Jean’s questions. He nods, shoulders straining with the weight of the world pressing down on them. "I didn't know where to go. Russia is too close to home. And Japan … I can't be around Viktor and Katsuki right now. I can't. And everyone else is busy with their lives, but you …"--or: After a divorce, Yuri flees to Canada to try and get Otabek out of his mind. What he finds is Jean, the human behind King JJ.
Relationships: Jean-Jacques Leroy/Yuri Plisetsky, past Yuri Plisetsky/Otabek Altin - Relationship
Series: Pliroy Week 2021 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2211891
Comments: 13
Kudos: 23
Collections: Pliroy Week 2021





	Separation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ScribblesInTheMargins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribblesInTheMargins/gifts).



> Day 4 of Pliroy Week: Separation! Enjoy!

"It's real? It really happened?" 

Yuri looks away, not yet ready to stand up to Jean’s questions. He nods, shoulders straining with the weight of the world pressing down on them. "I didn't know where to go. Russia is too close to home. And Japan … I can't be around Viktor and Katsuki right now. I can't. And everyone else is busy with their lives, but you …" 

Jean is available, even mid-season, because he simply isn't participating. When Bella and he finalized their divorce mid July, Jean announced he would take a break. Back then, everyone was sure he'd retire, but the lean muscles and slim frame in front of Yuri speak of another story. 

"I understand. Come in." He actually steps to the side and allows a disheveled, exhausted Yuri to enter. "Do you want a drink? Something to eat? A bath or—" 

"Can I sleep somewhere?" It probably sounds snarkier than intended, or maybe just exhausted or sad, but Yuri is done trying to keep it together. "I kinda just want to hibernate until it's all over." 

Jean watches him for a long moment. _Poor Yuri Plisetsky, running away from his own divorce and hiding with the one man he hates, just to flee from the press. And maybe to keep his distance from Altin because something terrible must have happened to break the two best friends apart._ Ha. Bullshit. In truth, nothing terrible happened. Life did. Otabek wanted to settle down, Yuri didn't. Otabek wanted Almaty, Yuri wanted Russia. Otabek thought about kids and Yuri was focused on the next season. It was a million different tiny things, none of them enough to justify a divorce, but in sum … they didn't balance out anymore. 

It's better like this, at least that's what he keeps repeating to himself. 

Jean takes him to the guest bedroom and accommodates Yuri almost a little too well. He's got everything he needs in here. It makes thinking about leaving just that bit harder. But he can't stay forever, right? 

At some point he has to face his past. But now … sleep. 

* * *

Yuri wakes from a dream a few hours later. It doesn't matter how warm his side of the bed is, next to him, the space is cold and vacant. Fuck, it wasn't even a bad dream. It was summer and he listened to street music with Otabek holding him tight under his arm. But it was just enough to rile Yuri up and make the cavity in his heart pulse a little harder. 

He's not thinking when he gets up and walks through the house, hunting for the master bedroom for no reason other than wanting to be less alone. 

Broad shoulders, an undercut, warmth. Yuri isn't proud of himself when he snuggles up to Jean, but he's a weak man tonight. So he closes his eyes regardless. 

* * *

The morning after is strange. He's disoriented but comfortable, for a moment too deep in a fantasy of days long gone when Yuri cuddles against a firm chest. No. Fuck. His eyes snap open and he pulls back, but it's too late. Ice blue eyes instead of brown ones trail his movements. He expects a quip, some kind of dumb comment, but Jean lets him leave without a word. 

* * *

They don't talk during breakfast. Overall, Jean doesn't talk much. It's not what Yuri expected when he came here. But somehow, this is better. Jean is more of an actual person that way, less an art concept. 

Yuri doesn't need concepts right now. 

* * *

Otabek holding him against the fridge, trailing kisses down Yuri's neck. Otabek grabbing his waist and squeezing it. Otabek pulling back and turning around, leaving Yuri hot and bothered, alone. 

When his eyes open more on their own than on command, Yuri can't bear the lonely darkness. It's the second time in a week, but naked feet pat quietly across the tiled hallways. His toes are cold, but Yuri's mind is set. He will accept mocking laughter in the morning if it means not braving the night on his own. 

* * *

"Hey, princess." A cup of tea is nudged at him, along with a mountain of what seems to be pancakes with maple syrup. Of course. "You haven't eaten enough during the last few days. Here. Forget the diet for a moment, okay? You can train with me later if you want. But you need the energy." 

He would argue that pancakes aren't healthy food, but on second look, they seem to be at least somewhat fancy, so Yuri won't fight him. He won't fight someone helping him like that. 

* * *

Training with Jean is … different. They have new stories to tell and old tales to go over. Exercising his body feels good, but exercising his mind? It's the first time Yuri smiles since he's arrived in Canada. 

* * *

They walk down a street, hand in hand, twin smiles on their faces. Yuri stops Otabek, because look, there's Jean. 

_You hate Jean_. 

_No, I don't._

_Are you sure?_

When he wakes and makes his way across the ceramic tiles, Yuri shivers. Does he hate Jean? The nightstand light is still on. Fuck. It's infinitely more embarrassing to crawl into the bed of someone who's awake. 

But Jean smiles at him. "Hey. I couldn't sleep. Wanna keep me company?" He acts as if it's his idea. As if Yuri isn't pathetically running to him for help. And it fills Yuri with unprecedented gratefulness. 

He slides into bed with a little smile and they talk all night. 

* * *

"Why are you doing this?" Yuri looks over his shoulder and into clear seawater eyes. "Taking care of me like this, I mean. I've been an asshole to you for years." 

Jean helps Yuri climb into the prepared bubble bath, then sits on the edge. They are professional athletes; nudity means nothing to them. 

For a while, they are cocooned in silence and steam. And just when Yuri accepts he won't get an answer, Jean lifts himself up and walks to the door, where he hesitates. "People change, Yuri. People change." 

* * *

He doesn't want to listen in. That's impolite and, frankly, invasive. But when Jean cries, curled into himself on one of the uncomfortable kitchen chairs, Yuri can't help it. He's on the phone with Isabella. Has been for a while. 

Is it anger? Frustration? Sadness? Loneliness? Regret? Fear? Yuri knows all of those very well. 

That night, his bed dips. And he doesn't laugh in the morning when Jean is pressed to his back, holding onto Yuri as if he's a teddy bear. 

* * *

"You need to come home. You've been gone for ages" Mila whines into his ear, and Yuri twirls a strand of hair to give himself something to do. "He went back to Almaty a month ago. The press is gone, Yura. You can come back." 

His eyes glide past the door frame and into the living room, where Jean does wind-down stretches in front of a terrible cartoon. Yuri ponders Mila's words. 

Can he? 

* * *

Yuri wraps himself around strong shoulders and smiles. He's a little too small to comfortably rest his head against the other's temple, but he tries anyway. "Cuddly, aren't we?" Maybe not the best thing in a club, but Yuri doesn't care. 

He raises his hand, brushes it into the undercut and tugs to place a kiss on a sharp jaw. 

Otabek spins around and reaches for Yuri's hips, except it's not Otabek. It's Jean, and the kiss that follows tastes like ice and syrup instead of leather and coffee. 

Yuri wakes to a strange clenching in his gut. He stays alone that night. 

* * *

The doorbell rings. It's not Yuri's house so he doesn't open it. Instead, he stays seated at the dining room table, reading on his phone. 

But when Jean opens the door, a voice wafts in that he hasn't heard in months. Has avoided for months. Shit, how long has he been here already? No one bothered to tell him the season started. Not even Jean. 

"Surprise?" 

A fucking surprise indeed. 

* * *

"So. Uh. You live here now?" Otabek points around to indicate the Leroy household. 

"I … no. Well …" Yuri showed up a few months ago with nothing but a little bag and kind of forgot to leave. Fuck, that's awkward. 

"He's my guest as long as he wants to be." 

Otabek gives Jean a puzzled look, then nods. "Oh, yeah, I … I actually just came to check in on you. After Bella and everything. I didn't know Yuri was here."

Is Otabek telling the truth? Yuri didn't tell his ex-husband where he went. But Jean shrugs, anyway. "Thank you. I'm doing okay. She's … there's someone else. She's happy with him. I sometimes miss her family, but …" It's almost as if Jean tries to quickly get through the conversation so Otabek can leave again. 

But as it turns out, his return flight is a week away, and Jean is too polite to send him home like that. 

* * *

"Just … drop your shit on the sofa, I guess. You can sleep here." Otabek nods and drags his luggage in. 

But Yuri pulls Jean to the side. "He can have the guest bedroom. If you're okay with that." The implication is clear; Yuri will sleep in Jean’s bed. But is it too much? For either of them? 

"You sure?" He nods, and Jean gives him a quick hug before he walks over to Otabek to inform him. Yuri doesn't watch how the conversation goes, he's too busy rearranging his things. 

* * *

"I didn't expect you to choose me." There's a book on Jean’s lap, but he's obviously not reading it. 

"I … chose you a while ago." 

"But Beka …" 

They look each other in the eye. "Otabek is a good man. So are you. But I already know Beka and I are incompatible. Why be uncomfortable next to someone you don't love when you can—" Yuri stops himself. The implication of what he just said dawns on him. 

Jean stares with wide eyes, too. Then, when he finally speaks, his voice is small. "I don't want to be a consolation prize."

Something warm grips Yuri's heart, makes him reach for Jean's hand. "You aren't. You've never been. I … this is the first time I've been truly happy in years." The fact that he doesn't even need to lie weights on Yuri. 

"You loved him." 

Yuri nods. Otabek was his best friend for the longest time. But seeing him next to Jean today, the direct comparison … 

"People change, Jean. People change."

**Author's Note:**

> > Thank you to our wonderful editor [Taedae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taedae/pseuds/Taedae), and to you as the reader.
>> 
>> Please come talk to us! If you want more stories from us, subscribe to both authors! Lots of love,
>> 
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>> 
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